Spider-Man 4 Can Finally Fix Raimi's Spidey Trilogy Mistakes

Warning! SPOILERS for Spider-Man: No Way Home

The Marvel Cinematic Universe's Spider-Man 4 can now fix Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy mistakes, thanks to Spider-Man: No Way Home. Tom Holland's Spider-Man's latest solo film is heavily tied to the non-MCU Spider-Man movies that came before it. Whether it is the MCU's Spidey fighting villains from past franchises or teaming up with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Men, the movie is as tied to the past as it is focused on setting up the future. Spider-Man: No Way Home's post-credits, though, hint that Holland's MCU future will include fixing Spider-Man 3's Venom mishap.

The Spider-Man: No Way Home post-credits scene shows the continuation of Venom: Let There Be Carnage's post-credits. Tom Hardy's Venom is featured for a cameo, but he is sent back to Sony's universe instead of staying in the MCU. This comes after he's learned more about the MCU's many superheroes, including Holland's Spider-Man. Although Hardy and Holland don't have the chance to interact here, the post-credits scene still teases Venom is part of Spider-Man's future. Part of the symbiote is left in the Mexico bar as Venom exits the MCU and is sent back to the Sony universe. This indicates that Spider-Man 4 could bring a new take on Venom and Spider-Man's relationship to the big screen.

With the MCU's Spider-Man 4 poised to include Venom, the sequel has a chance to fix the mistakes Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 made with the symbiote villain. Venom and Spider-Man's comic connection is something many have been waiting years to see properly translated on the big screen. Spider-Man 3's use of Venom wasn't a complete disaster, but the film did struggle to make the symbiote and Eddie Brock work within the story. It is no secret that director Sam Raimi didn't want Venom in Spider-Man 3 and struggled to understand the character, but Sony demanded the symbiote villain needed to appear. This led to the character not receiving adequate time to really be explored, which resulted in a whiny version of Eddie Brock and an emo Peter Parker. Tom Hardy's Venom franchise has fixed aspects of the character's live-action portrayal, but the lack of connections to Spider-Man has still irked viewers.

With Spider-Man: No Way Home already teasing that Spider-Man 4 or another film in Holland's new trilogy will include Venom, Marvel is already showing how their Venom/Spider-Man story will be different - and hopefully better. The symbiote remaining behind in Spider-Man: No Way Home's post-credits shows that the studios know this is where they want Peter's story to go next. This should ensure that the MCU's Venom isn't rushed or marginalized like he was in Spider-Man 3. The villain should be at the forefront of all discussions about Spider-Man 4's story now, with Kevin Feige possibly already knowing how he wants to differentiate the next Venom from what came before.

Marvel Studios and Sony wouldn't take on Venom as part of Holland's Spider-Man future if it wasn't something they wanted to do. Not only has Spider-Man 3 shown how wrong that could go, but Tom Hardy is currently playing a version of the character that is generally well-liked. Spider-Man 4 using Venom invites comparisons to both versions, so there must be a good idea for how the MCU can put a different spin on the character. That could include anything from Tom Hardy playing a Variant of Eddie Brock in the MCU or making Flash Thompson the one who gets the symbiote.

More: Why MCU's Spider-Man 4 Has To Be Different After No Way Home